Anden Wilder was born and raised in Denver, Colorado and was a prolific maker from a young age. She attended the Maryland Institute College of Art and graduated with a degree in painting. With a great love for reading and children’s literature, she went on to receive a Masters Degree in Educational Psychology and Early Childhood Literacy. Anden was chosen as one of the inaugural winners of the SCBWI Bologna Illustrator Scholarship in 2023. She is a professor of illustration at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design and an instructor at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Anden is interested in texture, the interactions of color, and gestural line. Her picture book work explores feelings of inadequacy, longing, and the desire to belong that children always feel. She wants to remind readers that, even though our human experiences may look very different on paper, our feelings are often the same. Anden believes that making books for children requires an intense and contemplative study of life, of art, and of childhood.
Anden is represented by Stephanie Fretwell-Hill at Red Fox Literary.